Utu Abe Malae's family and ancestry is originally from the Manu'a Islands,(his father's side)[2] which are located approximately 70 miles east of American Samoa main island, Tutuila. His mother's family is from the village of Amouli, American Samoa. He was the fifth of seven children born to the late Elder Pita Malae and the late Fiapa'ipa'i Sera Utu Malae.
Malae worked within the government of American Samoa for over twenty-five years.[3] He served as the executive director of the American Samoa Power Authority (ASPA), a government electric utility.[3] He was appointed to oversee both the LBJ Medical Center and the Port Administration by separate American Samoan governors while he headed the ASPA.[3]
Utu served as the CEO for the LBJ Medical Center from November 1995 to January 1997.
Malae, the American Samoa Power Authority and several other employees of the ASPA were also honored at the Mayors' Asia-Pacific Environment Summit 2001 in Honolulu, Hawaii.[7] The summit was sponsored by the Asian Development Bank.[7] Before the Summit, Malae presented then Honolulu MayorJeremy Harris with detailed accomplishments of ways in which the ASPA, under his directorship, had worked to combat environmental problems in American Samoa and elsewhere in the Pacific.[7] Malae had initially promised to combat environmental pollution at the first Asia-Pacific Environment Summit in 1999.[7] For his work, Malae received one of the summit's awards and was asked to appear as one of its featured guest speakers. The award "honors Abe Malae and recognize the tangible progress of the municipality and people of the American Samoa Power Authority in fulfilling their sustainable development commitment declared."[7] Malae and his management of the ASPA was particularly praised for its operations of a utility service located in Ebeye, Marshall Islands.[7]
Malae became vice chairman of the Pacific Power Association in 2001 and later became the acting chairman of the PPA in 2002 following the resignation of the organization's representative from the Northern Marianas Islands.[8] In 2002 Malae was chosen for a full two-year term as chairman of the Pacific Power Association while still working as the executive director of the American Samoa Power Authority.[8]
Malae left the ASPA in September 2004 to become acting president of the Development Bank of American Samoa, a government-owned bank.[9] He was retained again as President of the bank in September 2006.[10] Malae received praise for his management of the bank, which included a "clean" audit of its finances in 2007.[11] He remained as head of the bank until his resignation to run for governor in 2008.[12]
Utu Abe Malae announced the formation of an exploratory committee April 2008 to study the feasibility of a candidacy for Governor of American Samoa.[22] The committee was made up of Malae's family, friends and supporters.[22]
Malae fueled further speculation that he was planning a run for governor when he tendered his resignation as president of the Development Bank of American Samoa.[11] He submitted a letter of resignation to the bank's board of directors on May 29, 2008.[11] He left the bank on July 3.[23]
In his announcement, Malae promised to make healthcare and education a top priority in a future Malae administration.[12] He referred to these as the top two issues facing American Samoa today.[12]
Malae faced incumbent Gov. Togiola Tulafono and two other candidates in the gubernatorial election on November 4, 2008. Tulafono received 41.3% of the vote to Malae's 31.4%. Because no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a run-off election between Malae and Tulafono took place on November 18, 2008. Governor Tulafono defeated Malae to win a second, four-year term.[24]
Chairmanship of the Republican Party of American Samoa
In March 2016, Malae was elected chairman of the Republican Party of American Samoa.[25]
Legacy
In March 2017 the Utu Seamount was named after him.[26]
